Balibo five honoured in Canberra with dawn service marking 40th anniversary

A dawn service is underway in Canberra to honour the 40th anniversary of five Australian journalists killed while reporting from Balibo in East Timor.

The Balibo Five - reporter Greg Shackleton, camera operator Gary Cunningham and sound recordist Tony Stewart of the Seven Network, along with reporter Malcolm Rennie and camera operator Brian Peters from the Nine Network - were killed as they witnesses an Indonesian incursion in the town of Balibo on October 16, 1975.

A sixth, Roger East, a reporter working for Australian Associated Press and Reuters, was executed in Dili on December 8, 1975.

Brian Peters, Tony Stewart and Gary Cunningham were among five killed while trying to report on Indonesian troops invading Balibo, East Timor in 1975. (AAP) (AAP)

No one has been brought to justice for their murder.

Family members of the deceased and journalists gathered at the service at the War Correspondents Memorial at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra this morning.

Shirley Shackleton, the wife of Greg, told the service there had been 40 years of silence over the deaths from the Australian government.

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John Milkins, son of Garry Cunningham, tearfully read the last letter he received from his father dated October 15, 1975.

"The town of Balibo before the revolution must have been very beautiful, now it is in ruins," the letter said.

The Media Arts and Entertainment Alliance will use the 40th anniversary of the Balibo killings to launch the Balibo Five-Roger East Scholarship, which MEAA chief executive Paul Murphy says will fund travel, study and living expenses in Australia for East Timorese journalists.

He said the scholarships would include short courses at major journalism schools, and work placements in newsrooms in Australia.

"We believe a practical program like this is the most appropriate way for our union to honour and commemorate the Balibo Five and Roger East," Mr Murphy said.

"A little over a decade since East Timor became an independent sovereign state, press freedom is still fragile and there are few formal structures to develop journalism skills."

Another ceremony for the six slain reporters will be held today at the St Kilda Botanical Gardens in Melbourne at 3pm.